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WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

August 20, 2009

Roger Federer

CINCINNATI, OHIO

R. FEDERER/D. Ferrer
3-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. ?

Q. How do you keep your mental edge and composure in tight matches? You were broken to go down 3-1 in the final set, but you came right back and broke him again. You didn't get flustered.
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, it's something you kind of develop, I guess, over the years, you know. You have a certain attitude out there and certain approach. Mine you know many years ago was that I tried to stay calm and not give too much away to my opponent and try to hang in there. And even when it's tough sometimes, accept it and try to turn it around. There's never a guarantee, obviously.
Today I didn't think I was going to because I thought David was playing a great match. That's why the satisfaction is maybe greater now.

Q. How difficult was it to make shots in the wind?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, look, I like playing in the wind. I used to not like it at all when I was coming up and about because I had a small racquet head size. I used to shank many balls and my footwork wasn't perfect yet. So there's always -- those little adjustment steps you need to take in the wind are crucial, otherwise you'll always shank them.
I think at the beginning maybe my footwork was just a touch off. After that I think got it together, you know, and started to play better and better. In the end when it goes your way, all of a sudden you can actually use the wind to your advantage in a big way. That's what I actually hoped to do the whole match today, but it's not so easy sometimes.

Q. How did you use the wind to your advantage?
ROGER FEDERER: Just playing smart, you know. Because if you play dumb in the wind, that can really -- that can backfire bigtime.

Q. Rafa said that you're an obvious favorite for the US Open. Do you agree with that?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, it seems like he's never the favorite, so I guess I -- you know, I'll definitely have a shot, you know, after winning five times, but so has he. He's only lost a handful of matches this year.
Many other guys like Murray and Djokovic have been up there in the past in the finals. Then the other guys right behind them, Del Potro and stuff, they also have changes.
But, yeah, I think definitely the top few guys have the best chance.

Q. Were you disappointed with your first serve? First serve percent was 62%. I've seen you serve better.
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, I'd sign that for the entire year, you know. I don't know for whom a good percentage is 50 or 60 or 70 or 80. As long as you don't fall below 50 I think it's always good. Sometimes it's better to have a low first serve percentage, but you're coming up with good serves at 30-All, 30-40, 40-30 points, you know. So you gotta look at the big picture. That's why statistics, for us, are not always that crucial.

Q. You talked yesterday about the up-and-down performances here in the past. With that in mind, how frustrating would it have been if you hadn't got past him today.
ROGER FEDERER: Look, it's stuff you have to accept. I thought he played a good match. I think the frustrating part about this tournament for some of players who lose, like me last year against Karlovic, you don't really get a chance to get become into a match. The conditions are quick. You lose a first set and get a bit unlucky in the second or it goes into a breaker and you're out.
That's how tennis used to be played a lot of the times 10 or 20 years areas when Pete and those guys were around, and Ivanisevic. Came down to a few points even on the hardcourts. That's change for us now because, you know, we return maybe better and the conditions have slowed down dramatically. That then gives us maybe a bit more control in the match.
Here it's not the case. That's why you can crash out without actually playing a bad match. You know, that's then stuff you just have to accept and move on. You can't be too disappointed about it.

Q. What do you want to improve on for your next match here?
ROGER FEDERER: For me it's just really getting match play. I still think sometimes I'm playing wrong decisions out court, you know. I'd like to play sometimes a bit more aggressive or a bit more with spin. I tend to do the opposite. It's just like those little ideas you have sometimes that need to come at the right time.
For that, you need matches. That's why this win today was perfect. Gives me another opportunity to play another match. I'm further into the tournament, which then normally makes me play better. So now I'm excited about the tomorrow.

Q. After the highs of French Open and the record, did you go through any sort of emotional letdown at all?
ROGER FEDERER: Not really. Look, it's not the first time I've done well. I've been in those situations so many times that I'm more -- I only take positive out of it, you know, because you never know when it's your last tournament to win.
Even though I have 60 you still feel -- you never know if it's your last. You have to be happy when it's going well and not think about, oh, my God, I've just won Wimbledon. What a disaster. That's not how I go through life anyway.

Q. What's a better matchup for you, Hewitt or Querrey?
ROGER FEDERER: Tough call. I mean, it seems like Querrey is playing well. He's had a wonderful summer so far, but, I mean, he's played a lot of tennis. I think he's got to definitely battle through Hewitt. That will take something out of him if he comes through. I think on the American hardcourts he's definitely a tough player. That doesn't mean I like to play him.
If I could choose, I would rather play Lleyton just because of our history, our rivalry. I played him for the first time when I was 15 years old. Yeah, we've had some wonderful battles in the biggest arenas around the world. That's why I'd like to always play Lleyton.
It's gonna be a close match, I'm sure.

Q. When all the power came into the men's game with the racquets, it seemed like a lot of the art was taken out of the game.
ROGER FEDERER: I disagree.

Q. Well, now I think it's coming back and we see a lot of different styles. You don't think it went out of the game?
ROGER FEDERER: I just think it's become so much more athletic, you know. Before it was more guiding the ball around, because with the wooden racquets you couldn't really generate a lot of pace. So like even an overhead wouldn't mean it was the end of the point.
Today if a guy gets an overhead you know it's gone, you know. I think today we're seeing incredible plays. No, I think the game has evolved actually quite nicely, you know. You'll always go through patches where you have big servers or then you have baseliners.
But I think throughout the tennis history we'll always see a good mixture, you know.

End of FastScripts

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